I Don't Get All The Hate Over This Game

As I mentioned back in this entry, I recently downloaded the game Dead Space: Ignition, which is sort of a set-up title paving the way to the upcoming sequel, Dead Space 2. The game only costs $5 and takes roughly 45 mins to complete from beginning to end. But the story has a branching plot, much like a choose your own adventure novel, so in order to see all the possible outcomes (a total of 4 different ones), you'll have to replay the game another 3 times to get the full picture.

Got it? Good.

I don't quite understand all the backlash this tide-over title has received since its release back in October. Complaints range from the game not involving any actual shooting or other action-y bits, to the art style being underdeveloped and "blobbish."

To that I say, whaaa? I actually liked the art direction. I wasn't expecting cutting-edge graphics here, not for $5. The story is told through the "motion comics" format, a style that might be familiar to fans of the recent Zack Snyder Watchmen film, which included a motion version of the graphic novel on the collector's home video set. Basically, the cutscenes are static comic book frames brought to life by minimal movements for dramatic emphasis. If you're into comics and cinema, you've seen this done before. It's no big deal. I don't see where all the hate is coming from.

Again, five dollars people! If you want to get an idea of what I'm talking about, check out the video trailer for this game by clicking here.

As for the complaint that this is not an action-shooter game -- big whoop! Why should it have to be? You want a shooter game, either replay the original Dead Space or wait for the sequel to hit next week. I was told that Ignition was going to be a puzzler, and that's exactly what I got. You solve a bunch of puzzles increasing in difficulty throughout the course of the game, all the while being fed the story via motion comic format in-between. The story is engaging and very much in spirit of the main games, complete with graphic horror moments, plot twists, and a whole heaping of betrayals.

Dead Space: Ignition tells the tale of two CPD employees aboard a space station named "The Sprawl." I'm sure there's a more official name for this place, but I don't recall hearing it during the course of the game. Nor do we ever fully understand what the "C" in CPD stands for, but we can infer from the dialog that the "PD" portion is Police Department. So, these two police officers--named Franco and Sarah--are coworkers. But, it turns out they're also lovers on the down-low. And while Sarah is the brawn of the pair, Franco is the brains. Or, at least, the technician. He's the staff engineer and, as such, he seems to spend most of his shift fixing computer terminals throughout the station.

When Ignition begins, Franco and Sarah are called to investigate a series of corrupted automated processes across the Sprawl. Franco hacks into the systems and hauls them back online. Sarah's job, on the other hand, seems to be standing around and making smart ass cracks. The voice acting is very good, however, and you do get a real sense of chemistry between these two.

Of course, because this is still a game taking place in the Dead Space universe, eventually there is a "Necromorph" outbreak aboard the station. These appear to be the same baddies Isaac Clarke came across in the first game. Necromorphs are mysteriously infected humans who mutate and turn inside-out and go on a general killing spree of mayhem and gluttony until no one is left alive. How the infection got from way out in deep space to the Sprawl is a mystery that is never truly answered in this game. But there are hints that the same saboteurs messing with the station's computer systems are behind the outbreak. Only Dead Space 2 will provide the true revelation, it seems.

Naturally this is where the game heats up. Franco and Sarah get caught up in the melee which follows the outbreak, barely having time to make sense of what the hell's going on before they're joining the other unsuspecting citizens in running for their lives. Although you never do get to wield your trusty plasma cutter and get hip deep into killing some baddies (that's Sarah's job, handled entirely through expository scenes), your job as Franco is to hack into various barrier controls and access panels in order to effectively escape the ravenous hordes of Necromorphs heading your way. This is where the challenge and gameplay aspects kick in. As an engineer, Franco's main expertise seems to be using hacker's tricks to bypass sabotaged circuits or safety overrides. In his arsenal are three types of hacks, which he'll choose depending on the scenario: Trace Route, System Override, or Hardware Crack.

Trace Route.  My least favorite of the hacks. This puzzle involves Franco wending a light trace (orange line) through a maze of computer-generated barriers and redirects in breakneck speed. The system attempts to prevent you from reaching the mainframe core by sending out its own traces (blue lines) in a race to see who will reach the center first and unleash a quarantine on the enemy subroutine. In addition, along the way it releases various other subroutines to block and/or alter your course. I hate this hack because it's a bit reminiscent of the light cycle sequences in Tron, which in my opinion were always overplayed by fans. This hack, unfortunately, seems to be the most frequent throughout the game, though. Ugh!

System Override.  This is a curious hack. Curious in that it's far too easy. For some reason I never failed any of these puzzles, not even once. I don't even know if it's possible to fail them. Basically, it's a capture-the-flag game with the system's firewall. Franco inserts a vector (the red trident icon in the lower right) into a honeycombed software layout. Through this vector, he can release 4 different types of viral attacks. The object of the game is to get either one of these viruses across the board to attack and "capture" the computer's firewall (green fortress blob on the far left). Along the way, however, the attacks are met with swift and furious anti-viral measures. The challenge comes from judging which viruses to send out to best attack specific types of anti-viral opponents. It becomes a juggling act, but in the end your efforts all boil down to your army being bigger and better than the computer's. Through sheer, overwhelming attacks, eventually all the anti-viral measures succumb under your numbers, leaving the firewall "fortress" completely vulnerable. Quite simple, really.

Hardware Crack.  Ah, this is the mack-daddy of all the hacks! They start off easy, but then become hard as hell. By the end of the game, you're ready to tear your hair out due to the sheer complexity of this hack. Luckily, this is the least frequent of all three types. Yet, oddly enough, it's also my favorite of them all. Your job here is to redirect the two main light beams (green and red) to their respective matching power junctures on the other side of the board. Bend the beams around various obstacles just right, and you'll overload the fuses for a hardware short. At some point, however, a yellow power junction is introduced. So, in addition to finding ingenious ways to split, reflect, and redirect green and red lights across the board, you'll have to figure out how to also combine both colored beams to form yellow and route it over to the appropriate yellow receiver point as well. It can become quite the colorful mess, let me tell you!


And that's pretty much the sum of it, folks. The entire game is nothing but these 3 hacks being thrown at you in numerous variations. Some can be quite ingenious puzzles that are rewarding in the cracking, but most are annoying. To be honest, I only got enjoyment in being able to see the story progress after each solution. And trust me, the story gets pretty gripping at points.

Eventually Franco and Sarah end up in a really bad situation, which may or may not result in one or both of them meeting a horrific end. It all depends on the choices you make. Of course, if you play through all 4 possible story branches like I have, you start to see a certain pattern shared by all choices. This revelation, I'm sure (and it's quite the doozy, in fact) is going to pay dividends when it's time to play Dead Space 2. I can't wait to discover exactly how!

For your efforts at beating Ignition, you get a special hacker suit Isaac can use in the sequel. I hope the suit does what it sounds like. In the first game, you got special perks for various in-game items (like health, ammo, etc) depending on the level of your hacking abilities. So, if you're into that sort of thing like I am (hacking is always my favorite part of most games these days), this is even more incentive to play through Dead Space: Ignition.

And why wouldn't you want to? You get a pretty decent and quick offering for only 5 bucks (free if you pre-order the sequel), and the story sets up some elements for Isaac Clarke's continuing adventures. if you're a fan of the Dead Space universe and plan on returning there sometime soon, do yourself a favor and take less than an hour to try something a little different in the same milieu. Despite my hatred of the Tracer race hack, I still think the total package was well worth my investment.

Rating:  8.3 out of 10.

P.S. -- In case you're thinking of stepping right into Dead Space 2 without first playing the original, below is a video trailer which will catch you up on the back story to this universe. And, hey, it just revealed to me that the name of the space station is Titan Station, after the Saturnian moon it orbits -- kewl! Does this mean the Necromorphs are closing in on Earth? *gulp*

God of War III . . . And More

In which I talk about The Yanks vs. White Sox game today, the Lakers' series win last night and . . . more importantly, God of War 3!!!

Funny Batman: Arkham Asylum Review (And More)

I've posted links to this guy's video reviews in the past, but now it seems I can finally embed the videos. So, YAY!!!

Anyway, Ben Croshaw (aka, Yahtzee) operates a weekly web series off of The Escapist website, called "Zero Punctuation." The title of the show refers to his super fast-paced, breathless style of reviewing the latest games and trends in the gaming field. Yahtzee's a displaced Brit now working in Australia, but he's mostly known for his acerbic wit and wholesale slaughtering of certain game titles many people hold so dear and near. Seriously, this dude really eviscerates a game in the most brutal, yet infectiously HILARIOUS, of ways! He hates pretty much 9.5 out of 10 games that come across his desk, and is not afraid to tell you why. His points are punctuated (no pun intended) by juvenile and crude, but cutesy, paper cut-out animations that need to be watched closely for their surprisingly witty subtlety.

Check out his review of last summer's Batman: Arkham Asylum game to get an idea of what I mean. Actually, this is one of the few games Yahtzee really LIKES. Of course, he has to find something to bitch about . . . but if you know Yahtzee, this amounts to receiving a commendation from the President!



Now, if you enjoyed that and would like to view more like it, click on this link to get to a page collecting all the Zero Punctuation reviews dating back to time immemorial. If you would like an idea of how caustic Yahtzee can be with a game he actually hates, check out the review for the game Wet embedded below.



I almost never agree with his slamming of most games, but the reviews are still enjoyable to watch. And he does make astute observations about certain annoying aspects, of which Wet has quite a few.

Now They Gone And Done It!

Remember about a month ago when I was gushing over the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum video game?

Well my oft-visited fount of all things gaming, IGN.com, has just issued their review of the PS3 version, in which they scored the game a 9.3 out of 10!!! Greg Miller calls it: ". . . the greatest comic book game of all time." A few of the other editors at the site agree.

Fuck YEAH!!!!

You can read the full review for yourself here:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/101/1016585p1.html

After reading the review, be sure to check out the video review as well, which shows you the actual game in motion.

The little niggling issues they had with it aside, I'm loving everything I'm hearing so far. The combat system looks like fun, and thank god you can switch up between straight-out brawling and stealthy takedowns. Because having all of just one or the other element would have been tiring.

This game comes out next week, and I can't wait!

Game Review: Prince of Persia

Well, just finished playing Ubisoft's 2008 reboot of the Prince of Persia franchise. As a long time fan of the series, I had gotten a bit burned on the "Sands of Time" trilogy previously released, and was looking forward to seeing which direction the game would go in now.

And boy was it worth the wait! I simply adore this game. The developer decided to go with a more artsy and minimalist approach this time around, and it pays off. You can check my "Now Playing" sidebar on this blog for more on how I feel about it.

The game itself is more firmly rooted in Persian mythology than the previous iterations, this time pitting you up against the force of Ahriman himself as you fight to keep his dark influence from spreading across the land. The "Prince" this time is not royalty, but a mere vagabond/adventurer/glory seeker who stumbles onto a magical kingdom while getting lost in a sandstorm. Pretty soon he runs into a fleeing princess and is dragged into a battle between warring gods. The girl, Elika, secures the unnamed adventurer's help, and this is where the game begins.

It quickly becomes apparent that Elika is more than just a pretty sidekick, however. Unlike similar characters in other games, the AI which propels the princess is pretty darn advanced. She truly is more a help rather than a hindrance as you use her powers and intelligence to cooperatively battle through each opponent and puzzle the game throws your way.

In fact, the main design of the game is based on the single principle of cooperation: be it scaling sheer cliff sides or battling a humongous mountain of ugly in the form of one of the elemental adversaries, you must constantly string along moves with the aid of Elika's magic and combat prowess, bouncing back and forth between each other as you surmount the obstacles placed in your path together. Really, it's quite beautiful to watch once you get a handle on the controls. Check out the two trailers below, which demonstrate exactly what I mean:





All in all, this was a quick and VERY FUN little game to kill time with over these two weeks off from work. The cell-shaded art style choice works so well here--like anime--way better than traditional CGI. Make no doubt about it, this is a gorgeous looking game! If you have the time and interest, I highly recommend this title.

RATING: 8.5/10

Completed Metal Gear Solid 4 Over The Weekend

Well, just finished playing Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PlayStation 3 over the weekend. It took me 2 weeks to complete -- well in advance of my normal 2-3 months for a game these days. The quick turnaround was due to two factors:

1) This is a very short game (though that's not a bad thing in my book); and

2) I took a week off from work and pretty much spent every waking moment engrossed in this game.

The last point should tell you how I feel about the experience. Because of my work AND writing schedule, I rarely get to devote more than 5 hours a week to gaming. And that's if I'm lucky. Some weeks I don't get to game at all. So a game that takes most teenagers a week or two to beat, takes me 12 weeks off and on to do the same. But I've been gaming since I was 8, so video games will never disappear from my life completely.

With MGS4, however, I got sucked into it early and it never let up until I was done. It helped that I was between writing projects at the time, of course. And the great storyline, graphics, and gameplay made it a cinch for me to stay interested for hours on end. Which, if you know me, is a feat in itself as I can no longer stay seated for more than 2 hours to play any game these days. I always need a break. Not so this time. On my week off, it was not uncommon for me to spend 4-5 hours in one sitting playing Kojima's latest masterpiece, only to spend another 2-3 hours later the same night. Sometimes I would replay older chapters just because they were so much fun!

All this started back in June when I bought the PS3 pictured below, which came bundled with MGS4. At the time I was in the middle of playing Grand Theft Auto 4 for my Xbox 360, so beyond doing the initial install of the PS3 and watching a few blu-ray movies, I left the console alone until the end of July when I completed GTA4. But aside from performing a few software upgrades, I spent all of the month of August doing rewrites and writing a new story, among other non-gaming things.

Finally, on September 1, I returned to the world of Metal Gear and began my epic journey. And what a journey it was! While MGS4 hearkens back to the intricate, muddled and loquacious plotlines which annoyed fans in the second installment, this time around the story was a lot more manageable, if perhaps a little bit of a letdown in the end (more on that later). MGS3 had done a lot to put the series back in order, but the 60s time setting did not allow for much in the way of technological progress in terms of the look and feel of the game. That game had players traipsing mostly through Asian jungles, relying on traditional painted camouflage and good ol' fashioned hand-to-hand combat to make it through to the end.

But in MGS4, we return back to the "present," with more advanced tech goodies at Snake's disposal than a trio of James Bond films put together. Chief among these being the Octo camo suit, which allows Snake to morph and blend almost-instantly into any background just by standing next to it for more than 5 seconds. So, unlike in MGS3, you no longer have to manually change into different camo gear to match your environment, and apply the appropriate face paint before commencing taking down enemy sentries -- the computer makes the adjustments for you. And in a cool graphical changeover not unlike the Predator alien from the movies. Nice!

The levels and chapters here flow smoothly and swiftly, with Snake never tarrying in one location for too long. This is a change from the previous games which usually had the player backtracking endlessly and staying put in the same general geographical location for the entire game. Not so here. In MGS4, players start off in a Middle Eastern setting, then quickly fly off to the South American plateau, then off to central Europe, back to the Arctic for a poignant return to the current series's roots, and finally aboard a mechanized, floating fortress which I won't name for fear of giving away some key plot elements. That's a lot of scenery changes, and something I appreciated a lot. I played the game very conservatively, so in my playthrough I did virtually no backtracking. It's amazing! MGS2 killed me with all the endless backtracking I had to do, and MGS3 wasn't too much of an improvement. Backtracking, of course, is a trick programmers use to get you to play the same areas multiple times rather than burn up valuable resources trying to generate new real estate. With the advanced capabilities of the PS3, and the ample room provided by the new Blu-ray discs, I guess this is no longer an issue. Or perhaps those boys at Kojima Productions are really just *that* good. Either way, it all amounts to a pretty good romp across the globe. Just the way I like it!

One thing I have to get off my chest, tho. I was a tad disappointed with the ending. Not only did I think all the loose threads were wrapped up a little *too* neatly (i.e., not plausible), I felt the main character, Solid Snake, was given the shaft (no innuendo intended). It just seemed an ignoble end for such a great hero and soldier. And no, I am *not* implying that he dies. I'm speaking of "end" as an end to his presence in the series, as all indications from Kojima is that this will be Snake's last outing, if not the last Metal Gear game period. I don't know, but it didn't gel with me the way Snake just gets screwed over and over in this final outing. And to make matters worse, the other characters get cookie-cutter, saccharine endings. I mean it doesn't get more cheesy than having your grim, militaristic game series end with both a teary father-daughter reunion AND a wedding! I think Kojima was watching too many soap operas or something. Or maybe this in an ingredient indigent to the Japanese psyche? Whatever the case may be, the ending left a little something more to be desired.

That said, I still love this game to death. It contained the least frustrations and most fun I had with this series, although MGS1 is still my all-time favorite. That will never change. Some people might say that MGS4 was too easy. And, yes, there is some basis to this charge. While not exactly easy per se, it was the the easiest of the series. The boss battles in particular were confusingly simple. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it's the only way to describe these fights. I kept expecting something more to come out at me whenever I dropped one of the female heavies, only to be confused by their whimpering cries and fetal resting positions. WTF?

But despite this, the gameplay mechanics, superb graphics (best of this generation so far), and mind-blowingly deep story and cutscenes make this game impossible to rate below a 9 out of 10. What the actual decimal amount becomes is just picking hairs. Regardless of differing opinions on minor nitpicks, no one can play this game and say it is not a masterpiece. A fitting cap to an excellent series that began 10 years ago (for the current "solid" cycle).

I'm going to start the game again and play it on a higher difficulty level now.

Rating: 9.4/10